Try a third time. (And everybody is denied on the first round.)Originally Posted by ricoswava
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
*Overcome, not overcame.
http://www.verbix.com/webverbix/English/overcome.
htmlhttp://www.english4today.com/englishgrammar/grammarfaq/grammarfaq_answer.php?qid=6841
You want your future publisher to respect your work, to take it seriously. S/he won't if you have spelling and grammar errors in your first submission. You don't get to have the publisher's proofreader work on your piece until it is accepted - fact.
"Close to being out of depression"? I hope so. It's a lousy thing to have, I know (I have it). I hope your therapist agrees.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Great post, dogwood! 100% on the aid walking does for health matters. (Swimming, too.)"Cheryl Strayed didn't mean for the PCT to be a holiday. She was there to come to terms with her mother's passing. Not everyone who does long walk is on vacation."
+1 You got that one right.
Walking is curative, has been show to lead to clarity of mind, can lead to awesome thoughts, more balanced emotions, a better sense of direction and purpose, affects body(and brain) chemistry, and often greater health. Walking has been medically proven to aid in curing depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, fight weight gain, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Various cultures celebrate the pilgrimage - walking with meaning - which sounds like has some applicability to the poster's situation. Not all that crazy or ill informed sounding when one looks at it like that.
Maybe, doing a long walk will not magically result in financial nirvana but the person may very well benefit from a long walk.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
From the perspective on this side of the screen, you have described yourself as; homeless; unemployed but managed to scrape $3500 together for a long vacation/walk; have cancer and apparently no insurance; want to lose weight; have marketable skills but no desire to use them effectively; have depression/don't have depression/almost done with depression; want to get a PhD; unable to obtain public assistance for housing or disability; want to write a book about hiking with a condition (either cancer, depression, homelessness or all); want to escape for a while from the previous difficult year.
You ask for input, so to answer your question about a thru hike of the AT amidst an increasingly complex set of circumstances:
Yes, you can do a thru hike on $3,500, with some caveats. If you need medical attention for accidents or due to cancer/treatment (this will likely be necessary a few times along the way), obtain cancer and other meds along the way, need to get out of the weather into a warm/dry hotel or hostel for a few days to avoid getting sick or recover from sickness in the weakened condition your immune system is in, and have a few meals on a higher level than Raman Noodles, you will probably run out of funds somewhere south of the White Mountains. You should have a plan on how you can find money along the way so you don't end up with a cardboard sign at an intersection. Frankly, you should think of what you will do the day you walk into Millinocket when you complete the trail without a job, home, or anything to return to.
The value of a long walk can be high, conversely it can be a terrible experience. It can be attractive in its escapism as you have expressed a desire to do. The AT has rarely solved anyone's problems in and of itself. What you can most likely expect from this trek is to emerge in northern Maine with the same problems you have now, perhaps a few pounds lighter and possibly a little more grit in your character. You may walk away from your problems for a while, but they will follow you and eventually require resolution.
If the expectation or idea is to somehow use the walk as a catalyst to money or notoriety, you will be sorely disappointed. The economic reality is few people make money writing about their thru hike and the market is very small for readership. There is limited to no economic value speaking about it in and of itself.
As for public housing assistance and disability, there can be legal complications involved you may want to consider if you take on the challenge.
Lastly (or perhaps primarily), getting your health in order is the most important thing you can do. I am not sure how stable your health conditions are, nor do I see how cancer and/or depression benefit from a difficult walk of this nature given its deprivations. You will be exposed to severe weather conditions, marginal food given your budget, and solitude/separation issues that challenge those who are in perfect physical and mental health and take them off the trail.
All that to say, sure, you can do it. Only you can decide if you are able to or not. We only have what you've told us to go on.
Traveler, your first paragraph:
This is what depression can do to a person. Make him/her unable to make decisions, or color thinking so that unhelpful decisions are made. Depression can also make a person engage in magical thinking (not rico's case, but for example - "when I win Powerball next week I will do this and do that).
However, I believe these things:
The anti-depressant rico is on (if s/he takes one) needs to be modified (either through dosage or a different med)
rico (I use the lower-case r, because rico does) is resourceful - rico has saved $3,500, no small feat!
rico is not in a domestic abuse support group
I could be wrong on all counts, but this magical thinking rico has about his/her book winning the next Pulitzer Prize (I'm exaggerating) leads to to believe there is a medication issue at play here, in addition to my belief that rico's depression isn't being treated aggressively. And I hope rico's med are not being prescribed by a general practitioner. So few of them have adequate training in psychopharmacology.
In spite of the ACA, one has to fight for the precise kind of healthcare that one needs.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
I may end up wanting to shoot myself, but I am willing to give rico free tutorials in composition, everything from spelling to writing an outline to anything at all. I think rico COULD have a compelling story - marketing it (90% of art is marketing yourself - it was 500 years ago, it was 50 years ago, and it is now) is beyond my skill set. rico - I would write a couple of chapters, then find an agent.
AWOL wrote columns for Florida Today. Don't know if he was paid or not. Think locally. The Courant may well LOVE your idea. (And don't be opposed to writing on spec. You need to get your foot in the door, first.)
I hope you will be able to walk the AT - but as almost everyone else here has said, health first.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Note dogwood's post on how walking helps us.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Hey Sheperd, fyi my cancer med cost 11,000 a month. I have to make 40,00 a year to cover the cost on Obamacare or only earn 15,000 a year. Right now I have nooo ties. No wife or kids, and monthly rent. Hud is a last option. It is worst case scenario. I am glad you don't have cancer and that you did not beat depression. At my age, I want to take a moment before going back to fulltime work and enjoy life.
Everyone has problems Rico.
It's what you do personally to rise above them that makes you a survivor.
You do, what you have to do, to survive. Sometimes, you have to make the tough choices, which might be not hiking the AT.
*40,000, not 40,00
No-one will take you seriously as a writer unless you attend to the basics. That means spelling. Again, you do not get the publisher's proofreader unless your foot is already in the door - and that door is shut to you unless you respect the writing process. Or, you can create a blog with links to for-profit sites - like Amazon, which will give you something like 10 cents if your reader makes a purchase there from your blog.
I agree with you about taking a break. If you can afford to do this without nudging other hikers for money or food, and if you have a safe way to return home, then by all means do so.
I speak from direct, personal experience about domestic violence; depression and housing. I was also a paid, professional writer for many years, with a degree in the field.
There is nothing wrong with the ACA ("Obamacre" - a derogatory term) formula. Like MassHealth here in Massachusetts, it is designed, in part, to keep wealthier peeps from taking advantage. (Yet they do in other ways, like corporate welfare.)
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Meil,
I take no anti depressants. Getting my cancer medication will be difficult part. I have written to the manufacture and asked them if they would provide a month supply. On certain occasions the state will provide of to 3 months of medication.
No I do plan on a Pulitzer. Growing up, my family never taught coping skills. I learned them in group therapy, and draft a book about my last years experience.
No I don't want to use the system. I am in the middle. I need help covering the cost of my cancer medication. In 1 year my cancer medication cost $132,000. in 5 years it cost it cost 660,000. I have to stay under 15,000 to qualify for state medical, or make over 40,000 to cover the cost of Obama care, for my insurance and out of pocket expense is 8,500 a year.
I am not sure if a month vacation would be enough time for me to enjoy something. I want to take some time to see the beauty of the sunrise, and sun sets, may beautiful lakes, see some wild life. Take photos, that I might be able to sell in the future. I am a professional photographer.
Thank you for the thoughts. Having no rent, no wife, no kids, right now seems the best time to do this trip.
Thanks for your wiliness to help giving me some free tutorials.
Here is an example of my writing. This is the first 2 paragraphs of the book I drafted:
"On November 22, 2014, I woke up with my eyes so blurry Icould no longer read, and make out a letter in a book. Take a second and squintuntil the point that everything seems a little blurry. Well mine was worse thanthat. Have your heard of the term ofbeer goggles. It is a phenomenon in where one own consumption of alcohol makesphysically unattractive persons appear beautiful. Well, I did not consume any beverages thenight before, my vision was so blurry, for I could no longer see the beauty ofa person from 4 feet away.
With ultimate concern that I cannot seem to putinto words, I immediately called the optometrist, I told them I needed to seethem now, not tomorrow but now. Theoptometrist said they can see me at 1:30 pm. I thought to myself that is notquick enough. Dam it! I just have towait."
I need improvement in grammar and spelling. Most of the time I write something down, and then have to review it later to see my mistakes. With my learning disability, I correct the mistakes in my mind, but not on paper. Waiting a couple of hours or the next day to make fixes, I can find the mistakes.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts...
Thanks Trance, all my life, I have put God then work first. I have sacrificed, when friend were having fun. I have worked in a restaurant or attended business seminar. Having a chronic cancer, I have leaned the life is beautiful. I need some time to have some fun before retuning to work. I am sitting at a library. I see this older man who had a stroke. He is struggling to walk 100 feet. How long will it take for me to make enough money to take a vacation or a trail hike. It would be a while, or will it be 5 years from now. How will my health be in 5 years? would I have lost the weight. In 5 years, would I be enjoying life or still going to work every day. have a great day!!
Thanks Dogwood, This is exactly what I am thinking. In August 2015, I went on a life change white water kayaking for young adults with cancer: http://firstdescents.org/ I learned I can do more with my life. On the trip, I learned I was majorly depresses and I needed help. On November 14, 2015. I got that help. Now I want to take some time to enjoy life. I only have one life to live. Cheer Dogwood..!
"Cheryl Strayed didn't mean for the PCT to be a holiday. She was there to come to terms with her mother's passing. Not everyone who does long walk is on vacation."
+1 You got that one right.
Walking is curative, has been show to lead to clarity of mind, can lead to awesome thoughts, more balanced emotions, a better sense of direction and purpose, affects body(and brain) chemistry, and often greater health. Walking has been medically proven to aid in curing depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, fight weight gain, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Various cultures celebrate the pilgrimage - walking with meaning - which sounds like has some applicability to the poster's situation. Not all that crazy or ill informed sounding when one looks at it like that.
Maybe, doing a long walk will not magically result in financial nirvana but the person may very well benefit from a long walk.
Hi Rainydaykid,
My cancer is treatable. The side effects of the medication does cause fatigue. My weight does not help. There are story of people doing amazing things with cancer. Lance Armstrong is a great example. Even with steroids, he has a strong mental strength. I believe, I have (CML) Chronic Myeloid Leukemia to help make people aware the cancer and I am in some way going to encourage others with CML.
Something happened with the blog, it messed up on the spacing between some words. lol
Lance might have been on steroids for cancer treatment. While racing he did blood doping and EPO, unless Epo counts as a steroid.
Lance as in the bike racer?
You trust that liar? (On the Tour de France, and as a homewrecker.)
If your supposition is true, this would have been known to us - and he would have a great big lawsuit in his favor.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Oh dear.
Your story is there. But needs, as we said in the business, massaging.
Your vision fear does come across, however, and that's a great start, a great hook.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Miel .... regarding your tutorial offer .... I'm afraid you're going to need a larger bottle of Pepto Bismol.
OkeefenokeeJoe
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote